The Only One (2)

‘Living like this, I end up doing all sorts of things. I wonder if I would have experienced such things if I had climbed the Tower as it was.’

It’s been quite some time since I was ejected from the Tower that no longer exists in this world, but I still dream of those days.

Unlike others’ misunderstandings, the total amount of time I’ve experienced is still overwhelmingly on that side. The events I’ll experience and the relationships I’ll form while living here will continue to accumulate, but not yet.

And for me, getting involved with Ethan in the underworld, investigating the curse left by the Tower that still remains, or wandering around pretending to be an adventurer – all these things were beyond my imagination.

For me, who had never properly climbed the Tower, it was impossible to properly gauge how these experiences I’m going through now compare to the Tower.

If it’s a Tower where you can’t move to the next floor unless you pass the given trials, you’d have to do anything forcibly in the end, but anyway, isn’t everything I’m doing here now involving my own will?

“—, –?”

“Do you like seeing me in this appearance?”

The wind spirits circled around me, seemingly excited. For them, who always desire to commune with me, my current state was just perfect.

“This appearance?”

On the other hand, Lina beside me had an incredulous expression. In her hands, she was holding a translucent cover to put over my face.

“The spirits always want to contact me directly. To them, clothes are ultimately obstacles between me and them. Even in this embarrassing outfit, the wind spirits love it very much.”

I chuckled and looked down at my body. They say good-looking food tastes good too, so I, who was about to go to Ernst, the organization’s commander according to our plan, was now dressed up as much as possible.

But the direction of that dressing up was the problem. Like some dancer, my body with a lot of exposure had only a few pieces of black cloth contrasting with the pure white body, covering just the private parts of the upper and lower body.

It wasn’t for nothing that the wind spirits liked my current state. With the wind touching the bare skin of my entire exposed body, the weight of the accessories I was wearing was even heavier than the weight of the cloth.

“Are you really not bothered at all?”

“It’s not like I’m doing this for no reason, right?”

It was awkward, but not particularly embarrassing to the point of dying. Rather, I chuckled at the sight of Lina, who was blushing as if she was the one feeling all embarrassed.

Is it because this body has already completely changed once? I wasn’t very immersed in this body right now. It’s clearly my body, but it still feels like someone else’s.

And above all, as I told Lina, all of this is out of necessity. Smashing everything with force isn’t really my style.

“It’s not really a body that suits this kind of outfit, but it’s still stimulating. Enough to blur the other person’s gaze. That alone is reason enough to take on this appearance.”

“Going this far, you’ll surely succeed…”

With the cover Lina gave me now on, leaving only my eyes exposed, I let out a hollow laugh at my body that was quite lacking even compared to Lina right in front of me, but rather, she had a more grave expression.

In her eyes, I, who had lived for 10,000 years, seemed to look like a crazy woman who would use any means necessary for her purpose.

“Let’s go now. Honestly, I’m curious. What kind of expression will he make when he sees me? Somehow, the more someone knows, the more interesting their reaction is.”

Having finished preparations like that, I had to move again. The destination was Ernst’s villa where he would come.

* * *

“All the guests will come as scheduled. And… as planned, Branch Leader Ethan has arrived first and is waiting.”

“Hmm, did you see what he brought?”

“I’m not sure. It seemed to be some kind of living creature, but he absolutely wouldn’t let us see it.”

As Ernst was departing for his networking business under the name of vacation, he furrowed his brow upon hearing from the butler that Ethan had already arrived at the villa and was waiting.

“Should we ask him to reveal his identity in case he has other intentions?”

“That’s enough. That guy, at least he’s sincere about his position. Above all, the eyes I saw just before were definitely not eyes speaking lies.”

The butler tried to dissuade Ernst for safety reasons, but he shook his head. His eyes, which firmly believed in his own judgment, had determined that Ethan was telling the truth.

In fact, when he met with him, Ethan had opened up his inner thoughts frankly without any deception. Having met Isilia and getting involved with her, experiencing various things, Ethan was no longer swayed by the likes of Ernst.

Having been sincere from the beginning like that, it was natural that Ernst couldn’t read anything suspicious from Ethan.

“It seems there is something. So I’ll see for myself. If it’s something to give to me, I should be the first to see it.”

Snorting, he leaned back in his chair. Then, this luxurious large carriage pulled by six horses soon departed.

“My subordinate says he’ll offer a rare treasure unparalleled on the continent. You should see it too. It will surely be interesting.”

“…I’m not interested in things like jewels.”

“I know that too. But according to the butler, it doesn’t seem to be something like a jewel? He said it was ‘living’.”

Saying that, he turned his gaze to the person sitting quietly in the seat next to him and spoke softly. The brow of the girl, who was holding a book even in the shaking carriage, twitched slightly at the mention of a living creature.

‘This child has liked cute creatures since she was young. I don’t know what Ethan brought, but.’

He had long since fully grasped the tendencies of his preciously raised daughter. Indeed, his daughter, Laila Lestia, was showing interest.

“Let’s go and see.”

Ernst, who was saddened by his daughter trying to distance herself from the organization and her father as she grew older, laughed heartily.

Like that, they arrived at the villa near the city that evening after riding in the carriage, and as reported, Ethan was already there to greet them.

“Judging by your expression, you seem quite confident. What exactly are you thinking of using to gain my favor?”

“It’s not some common jewel. Of course, to explain differently, it does possess jewels. Two deep rubies that are chillingly heavy and deep, a mysterious stream of flowing silver, and that existence, the only one in this world, is more beautiful than anything else.”

“You have a long tongue. I’m sure there’s no problem with my daughter seeing it too, right?”

Ethan, looking quite calm, personally guided Ernst and his daughter while only offering cryptic words.

Ernst, while heading towards a room in the annex of the villa, listened to those words as if entranced without realizing it, but soon shook his head, imprinting that he still had some wariness left.

“Of course, I’m sure your daughter will like it too. And I won’t explain any further. After all, once you see it, Commander, no, anyone in this world who sees it will recognize its value.”

Ethan pointed to the door that was being firmly guarded by his and Ernst’s subordinates. Even those guarding it didn’t know what was inside.

Ernst, unnecessarily tense, carefully followed after Ethan as he opened that door and went inside.

It was a room where the brilliant full moon shone down from a cloudless night sky with its moonlight, and that light came straight through the large windows.

Since it was an empty room with little furniture to begin with, if there was anything, one’s gaze would naturally be drawn to it.

“This is the one and only gift I present to the Commander.”

‘A… person?’

Ethan pointed to someone sitting cross-legged in a chair placed in that room.

It was something small compared to the large chair. For a moment, Ernst’s eyes widened thinking it was a person, but those eyes grew even wider beyond their limit.

A pair of ears protruding from between the brilliantly flowing silver hair was clearly visible.

Above all, it was the moment when everything Ethan had said – deep rubies, a stream of silver – was revealed to be truth, not boasting or exaggeration.

In Ernst’s mind, who had just recently heard about the elf that Herman had coveted, the word ‘elf’ immediately came to mind.

“An elf.”

“Does it look like a mere elf to you?”

When Ernst, frozen in an awkward posture on the spot, mumbled stupidly, Ethan chuckled as if finding his reaction interesting and slowly approached Isilia sitting in the chair.

Then he grabbed her chin and smiled wickedly. As if to say, don’t you want this?

“It’s the only elf in the world. Now, give me the token. If you give me just that one thing, this becomes yours, Commander.”

Ethan’s words echoed in the ears of Ernst, who had already frozen from the great shock.

That soft voice was like the whisper of a devil; Ernst, already stirring with greed, was bewitched by Ethan.